It wasn't every day that Nero was especially glad to be a Zigzagoon. It didn't give him much in the way of power, and trying to walk alongside others with his unique walking style was always a hassle. However, there were a couple of advantages that his species offered him.

First of all, his coat of fur, being a mix of tan and brown, was a neutral color. This gave him the freedom to fashionably wear just about any color of accessory he wanted to, without needing to worry about whether or not those colors clashed with his body or not. A Croconaw like Fabian, whose species came prepackaged with a red accent color, would look absolutely terrible in the delightful seafoam green scarf that Nero currently wore with style.

The second Zigzagoon trait that Nero treasured was the simple fact that fellow members of his species tended not to be very memorable. They were far from a rare bunch, and discounting the noisy ones that hailed from Vinseta, most of them tended to have very mild personalities. On top of being small and hard to spot, being a Zigzagoon made it very easy to steal seafoam green scarves.

Sofia cleared her throat upon seeing Nero emerge from the store. "I- uh, are you sure you aren't gonna pay for that?" she asked. He asked her to wait outside, since her colorful plumage and entirely unique species made her stick out too much. "We- sorry, I mean, you have more than enough money to go around, don't you?"

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Sofia," Nero dismissed. "What are they going to do, assign us a second death penalty?"

"N-Nevermind, sorry."

Next up on Nero's shopping list was a bag. He lost his old one during the incident at the Guild, but he was thinking about replacing it soon anyway. He would've taken one from the designer accessory store he got his scarf from, but all of the bags on sale were made for bipeds, and those were always such a hassle for him.

Hoping to have better luck with Ferrumark's public market square, Nero made his way to a run-down stand with some quadruped-friendly bags hanging in the back. "Hello, sir!" chirped the adolescent Bonsly running the stand. "Are you interested in a bag? My momma makes them herself!"

"Yes, that sounds great," Nero responded. "You seem awfully young to be running a store on your own. Do your parents help you manage this stand?" For some reason, asking that question caused a look of immense dread to fill Sofia's face.

He shook his head. "Nuh uh. Momma's busy making the bags, and Dad's got his own job."

"Sounds tough," Nero said, his voice sounding more hollow than he expected.

"A little bit, but it's super worth it!" the Bonsly replied. "We get to eat so much more now that I'm working, and Mom's in a way better mood now!"

"That so?" Nero asked, carefully maintaining his casual tone. "Well then, I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time. Could I have that bag in the back?"

"Yep!" the kid chirped. He pulled out a harness with beige bags on opposite sides. "Should fit any quadruped under three feet tall! Wanna try it on?"

Sitting up to free his forepaws, Nero slid the harness over his back and tightened the adjustable strap. He now had two decently-sized satchels on either side, with multiple pouches of varying sizes. "Not bad," Nero said. "What did you say the price was?"

"Umm…" he glanced at a notecard on top of his counter. "Six hundred Poké, please!"

That was a shockingly low price. Then again, Nero supposed that the kid had no choice but to sell low, considering how much more popular his competition was. Nero withdrew two thousand Poké from the Deposit Box in front of the booth and slid the coins onto the counter.

As he counted the money, he slowly began to narrow his eyes. "Hey, this is way too much!"

"I must be going now," Nero started, turning away, "but let me offer you a little piece of business advice: if someone overpays you and they don't notice, keep it that way.

Like she always did when she had something to say, Sofia silently stared at Nero for several minutes as they walked away. "You're allowed to speak to me, you know," Nero said. "Don't worry, there's no remark you could possibly make that would sound more ridiculous than what Fabian comes up with on a daily basis."

"R-Right, sorry," she said. "It's just- I don't really get what your scheme was. It looked like you just bought the bag normally to me."

Nero rolled his eyes. "Sofia, that was a starving child. Even I'm not that cruel."

"O-Oh!" she said, wiping sweat from her beak. "Well, that's a relief! I'm glad you can at least draw the line at hurting kids."

"Just the poor ones," Nero clarified. "Truthfully, I couldn't care less who I steal from as long as I know they can afford it."

There was a strange look in Sofia's eye. Some combination of anger and dread flashed in her for a brief moment, before she returned to her usual shaken-up demeanor. "I can… respect that, I guess," she said coldly.

"What's your story, anyhow?" Nero asked, frowning as he stepped on a front paw in an odd way. It wasn't painful like his other paw, but he felt incredibly off-balance. "I don't mean to imply that there's anything wrong with holding contempt for the rich, but your gripes with them seem oddly personal."

"I- uh…" her eyes darted back and forth. "Uh… wait, where did you get that apple from?"

Glancing downward, Nero was met with the revelation that he had been holding an apple in his paw as he walked. "Hm. Must've pickpocketed someone. That explains why walking felt so strange."

"You- what?" she balked. "How do you pickpocket someone on accident?"

Nero took a bite out of the apple. "That would be the result of my ability. If I ever want something, I tend to subconsciously find ways to obtain it. And those ways tend to involve stealing. Apparently, I was hungrier than I realized."

"I'm… pretty sure that's not how Pickup works," Sofia pointed out. "I think you might just be a kleptomaniac."

"Perhaps," Nero mused, taking one last bite of his apple. "But those two attributes do pair well together, wouldn't you say?"

They turned a corner to find a small crowd gathering. They all watched as a Flygon hurried down the street, carrying three Pokémon on his back: A Lycanroc, a Poochyena, and a woefully familiar Croconaw. An unusually-colored Marowak limped alongside him with an expression that was almost as beleaguered as the Flygon's. "Back off!" the Flygon shouted. "If you've got business with me, bother me when I'm on the clock!"

"Quit keeping your blueprints to yourself, Melker!" one member of the crowd complained.

"You're greedier than a Gholdengo!" another one jeered.

"One of your employees bit my grandma!"

Sofia pointed at the limp Croconaw, frantically shaking in horror. "I-I… Oh my- Nero, that's Fabian!"

"So it is," Nero responded, continuing in the direction of the general store. He was hoping to stock up on Blast Seeds, and he'd love to have some Chesto Berries to fight off drowsiness in case he was forced to stay in the city overnight.

"He could be in serious trouble!" Sofia whispered sharply, matching his brisk pace. "You can't just leave him! We have to go do something!"

"You're more than welcome to," Nero curtly responded. "That is, if you're set on trying to fight the Pokémon who defeated Fabian without getting a scratch. On an unrelated note, do you have a preferred funeral rite? Or are you okay with a generic burial?"

She gulped and stopped shaking. "B-But, what else can we do? I know how you feel about Fabian, but we can't ditch him! We'd never survive without him!"

Never was an awfully strong word, but Nero did agree that Fabian was too useful to discard. "Stay calm and listen. The fact that Fabian is currently breathing means that, for one reason or another, Melker chose to leave him alive. Even in the worst case scenario where Melker intends to hand Fabian over to the Guilds, it will take several hours before a Guild worker can arrive here and properly apprehend him. We can afford to take our time."

Melker had faded away into the distance, and the crowd slowly dissipated. "...Yeah, I guess you're right," Sofia said. "Are you sure you'll be able to come up with a way to save him?"

Nero flashed a confident grin. "That's what I'm here for, aren't I?"

By the time they were finished shopping, Sofia was finally starting to believe that this rescue plan might be plausible. Sofia and Nero gathered info from local residents about Melker's corporation (although it would be more accurate to say that Nero gathered info while Sofia tried her best to manage her heart rate), and learned that Melker Motors only had four active employees, Melker included. There were mixed stories about the Poochyena's condition, but they knew for a fact that the Lycanroc was completely out of commission. That only left two or three employees to look out for.

The Melker Motors Headquarters was on one of the highest levels in Ferrumark City, and it dominated a significant chunk of the floor's space. The building was a castle surrounded by its vast moat of automobiles, all enclosed by a pristine fence that could've looked at home in a fairy tale.

"We'll be entering from over there," Nero said, pointing at a window sitting above an overgrown wall of ivy on the backside of the building. "From there, we will split up and search for Fabian. Don't try and rescue him yet, all we're trying to do right now is ascertain his location so that we can create a surefire route later. Prioritize stealth above all else."

"Should I ask what the Blast Seeds are for?" Sofia asked, remembering the worrying glint in Nero's eye as he purchased dozens of them (of which he only gave her one). "They aren't really well known for being quiet, are they?"

"That was just a bit of self-indulgence on my part," Nero said. "I happen to find their aesthetics appealing, that's all. However, if you feel as though you're in tremendous danger, you could use one to alert me of your location. Though, I wouldn't count on me saving you. Your safety isn't exactly my top priority, I'm afraid."

"Great," Sofia said, clenching her jaw.

Despite being a quadruped, Nero was somehow able to scale the ivy wall with no trouble at all. Sofia went next, and after floundering against the wall for an embarrassing amount of time, she finally gained enough height for Nero to be able to grab her wing and pull her up the rest of the way.

Her job was to canvas the upper floors while Nero inspected the main level and basement, so she headed up the stairs and got to wandering. Its layout was strikingly similar t0 that of an ordinary house, albeit with the scent of rust permeating the entire atmosphere. There was a kitchen, a dining room, and even a hallway that led to five bedrooms. "Do these people all live here?" she wondered to herself. "But then, who is the fifth bedroom for? I thought there were only four workers here."

Each of the bedrooms had a nameplate on them. Down the hall, they read: "Melker," "Fitz," "Hunter," "Toño," and "Vark." Most of those names belonged to Melker Motors employees, but the name "Toño" was completely new to Sofia. She peeked inside to see a messy bedroom coated in dust, with blankets and loose scarves strewn about.

"Who are you?" asked a voice from behind her.

Sofia nearly jumped out of her skin. "I- I- I- Uh…" she stammered, not able to think of a single word at the moment.

It was the Poochyena who robbed the Gear Shift crew. "You work here?" he asked.

"I- Uh- Yep!" she answered, sweat cascading from every pore in her body. "I sure do! I-I'm just new here, that's all!"

"Name?" the Poochyena requested, his tone of voice more respectful than his terse manner of speech would imply.

Sofia's eyes widened, and it took all she had to hold herself back from screaming. Try as she might, she could never come up with a good fake name on the spot. "S-Sofia," she answered, hoping that Fabian didn't mention her name at any point.

The Poochyena nodded. "Vark."

"W-Well, nice to meet you, Vark! I really should be going-"

"Where's your ID?" Vark asked, blocking her exit. "Can't be alone here without ID."

So close. "I… Well, um… I didn't get one y-yet? It's fine, I'm sure I'll-"

Vark shook his head. "Nope. Can't go off without ID. Boss says so. Gotta stick by me."

Every word out of this kid's mouth made things just a little bit worse. "Y-You aren't gonna… take me to the Boss, are you?"

"Nope," he said, sending a wave of relief washing over Sofia. "He's too mad right now. Help me first." Before Sofia could get a word in, Vark marched on into the kitchen. Part of her wanted to take this opportunity to run away as fast as possible, but even the idea of doing so gave her that awful pit in her stomach that she got whenever she let someone down. She decided it would be easier to get peer pressured by the eleven-year-old and hope that Nero could figure something out in the meantime.

On top of the counter, Vark pointed to a page in a dictionary-length cookbook. "Read this," he commanded. She leaned over and scanned the page. It depicted an ornately decorated cheesecake with a brownie base and a layer of velvet-red Custap glaze drizzled on top. "Out loud," he clarified.

"O-Oh, sorry!" She began to recite the recipe, and as she did, Vark followed them exactly with the preciseness and professionality of a seasoned chef. It was truly impressive. "Why do you need me here?" she asked, immediately realizing how rude that sounded after she said it. "I mean- sorry, I'm not complaining, it's just-"

"Can't read," Vark explained. "Boss reads for me instead. But he's mad right now."

"He can't even read?" She cleared her throat. "C-Can I ask, um, how old are you, exactly?"

He briefly paused his baking to consider the question. "Left the forest a year ago. Don't know how old before that. Probably ten, maybe more."

Learning that Vark was a feral made Melker's decision to employ him sound even more exploitative. For all she knew, Melker might even be employing him for free! "So… uh, what do you do for work?" she asked, hoping to glean information without having to ask any hard questions.

"Not enough." He slid the cheesecake pan into the brick baking oven. "Boss always gets worried if I do anything. That's why he's mad now."

"Wait, he doesn't want you to rob anyone? Why do you do it, then?"

Vark looked to the side. "No money. They pretend like we do, but we don't. I gotta help Boss."

She was probably getting a little too comfortable asking questions, but stalling wasn't a bad idea. After all, it was only a matter of time before Vark tried to escort her to Melker, and if that happened, she'd be as good as dead. "What do you mean 'no money?' Don't you- I mean, we- have a monopoly on the auto industry?"

Shaking his head, Vark hopped off the counter. "Boss doesn't talk about money much. Keeping Toño safe, I think."

That was the owner of the mysterious fifth bedroom. "Who's Toño?" she asked.

"You don't know?" Vark asked, tilting his head.

"Oh no, should I know him? Did I just blow my cover? What do I do?"

"Makes sense. He's a secret. You'll meet him soon. Cool guy." He grinded some Custap berries up and added the resulting puree into a bowl. "My friend," he added pridefully.

"A secret?" she asked, more confused about everything regarding Melker Motors every second. "But why?"

A nearby window burst open, and to Sofia's horror, a Flygon soared through it. He was the very same Flygon who paraded down the streets with Fabian's body in tow, and he was well over five times as large as Sofia. "Would you just mind your own damn business?" he yelled. "I'm sick of all you kids messing with my valued employees!"

Every muscle in Sofia's body froze up, and she couldn't even get her beak to move. Vark, meanwhile, was completely unfazed. "That's new employee," he explained. "Not bad guy."

Melker blinked, then shot a glare at Sofia so sharp that it could've drawn blood. "...Oh! Right!" he exclaimed in an eerily agreeable tone. "Can't believe I forgot all about that! Well, if that's the case, why don't we have a little chat in private, new employee?"

"I- I- I don't- I was just-"

"Aw, don't be shy!" Melker said, a malicious grin spreading across his face. "I'll die a hundred times over before I let one of my employees get hurt. And on the off-chance someone comes along and does something that puts one of 'em in harm's way…"

He leaned in closer. "...Well, let's just say I don't let it slide."

Even after gnawing at the cuff on his leg for around an hour, Fabian had made no meaningful progress in freeing himself. The chain that binded his cuff to an impossibly heavy metal ball was a couple meters long, giving him enough range of motion to pace around, but not nearly enough to reach the exit door.

The only other Pokémon in the room was a Pachirisu, who had been silently playing paddle ball with a forlorn expression on his face for as long as Fabian had been awake. "What are you doing?" Fabian asked him.

"I'm working," the Pachirisu replied. "What, you can't tell?"

Fabian frowned. "Oh. Does that mean you're one of Melker's grunts?"

That got a laugh out of the Pachirisu. "Look man, I just work here. The Boss looked pretty pissed off when he tossed you in here, though. You must've really done a number on Fitz."

"Who?"

"The Lycanroc," the Pachirisu answered, shaking his head. "I can't believe the former Vanadis heir would send a guy to the hospital on the day before his birthday." He messed up in his game of paddle ball and heaved a long, drawn out sigh. "Well, I guess I can believe it a little bit."

"I- Hey, I didn't know his birthday was coming up!" Fabian protested. The Pachirisu simply shrugged and went back to paddle ball. "How is what you're doing 'working,' anyway?"

"I'm taking five," the Pachirisu responded, as if he hadn't been at it for hours. "What's it to you?"

"I'm bored and I wanna talk to someone," Fabian said, flopping onto the ground.

"That makes two of us, I guess," said the Pachirisu, smirking slightly. "Eh, I guess some chitchat couldn't hurt. It's basically everyone else's fault for not visiting me enough." He set the paddle down. "Name's Toño, by the way."

"Weird name," Fabian said. "But it's pretty cool! What are you supposed to be doing? There's no way Melker's paying you to play paddle ball all day, right?"

"Nah, I'm supposed to be drafting up car designs," Toño said, brushing stacks of loose blueprints off his desk.

"Car?" Fabian asked, unfamiliar with the word.

Toño rolled his eyes. "Sorry, automobiles. I'll never get why that's the word that caught on. Point is, I invented them, so I've gotta keep making them forever and ever and ever, whether I like it or not."

Fabian sat straight up. "You're the guy who invented automobiles?" he asked, eyes wide open. "Why would you ever even want to slack off? That sounds awesome!"

"It would be," Toño replied bitterly, "if the Boss wasn't too busy being boring!" He grabbed a crumpled-up blueprint from the trash can and spread it out in front of Fabian. "Like, look at this design!" The blueprint depicted a spike-covered minivan with a comically large cannon stuck on top. "Apparently, this one was too 'impractical and dangerous' or whatever. Arceus forbid anyone tries to do something different every once in a while!"

Truth was, Toño's ranting barely registered in Fabian's mind, because he was so absorbed by the blueprint that he was dead to the world. It was, without a doubt, the coolest thing he had seen in his entire life. "You're telling me this didn't make it to market?" Fabian asked, completely in awe of the fact that the world could be so unjust.

"I know, right?" Toño exclaimed. "I've got tons of designs like this, and none of them ever get the green light! All I'm ever allowed to do is make slight fuel consumption optimizations and stick a new mirror somewhere every once in a while. I'm being stifled! It's like if a portrait artist had to paint the same guy in the same style with the same angle and lighting every day for the rest of his life!"

Fabian slammed his fist against the floor. "We've gotta do something about this! The world can't miss out on this! There's gotta be somewhere else you can work!"

"Nah," Toño bluntly said. "That can't happen."

"Why not?" Fabian asked. "Every dealership in the region would kill to have you!"

It took a moment for Toño to respond. "That's… part of why I can't, actually. Back before I faked my death, folks were kidnapping me left and right. And don't get me wrong, I can handle it, but Hunter and the Boss were always getting hurt rescuing me. And the Guilds barely tolerate us, so we couldn't exactly count on them to pitch in."

"You faked your death?" Fabian asked. "But then, how do you go outside and do stuff without blowing your cover?"

Toño forced a tired smile. "I don't."

"Are you saying you've been stuck down here every day?" Fabian couldn't imagine sitting around doing nothing in one room for a week, much less the rest of his life. "That sounds even worse than getting kidnapped!"

"Like I said, the kidnapping thing is only part of why I'm living down here," Toño said. "There's another issue, but I think you're the last person in the world who the Boss wants to know about it."

Fabian crossed his arms. "I still think you should get to leave if you want."

"Look, if you knew the full picture, you'd understand-"

"Don't care!" Fabian declared. "You make awesome stuff, and you don't deserve to live like a prisoner!"

Toño turned away, his tail brushing against Fabian's face as he returned to his paddle ball game. "Don't get it twisted, you're still the only prisoner here. If I really wanted to, I could walk out right now."

"Then do it!" Fabian was a couple of meters away from Toño, which was as close to him as his chains would allow. "How about this? If you help me break out, I'll stick by you like a bodyguard for a while so you can get some fresh air!"

With one eyebrow raised, Toño set his paddle down and stroked his chin with his paw. "That does sound nice…" he trailed off, before shaking his head. "Wait, no, that could never work! I'd be pissing the Boss off in a million different ways!"

"C'mon, don't you wanna go outside even a little bit?" Fabian prodded. "You could even drive one of your automobiles! How long has it been since you could do that? And besides, you wouldn't have to worry about the consequences until at least, like, a couple days from now!"

He closed his eyes. "Hmm… Well, it has been a few years since I've seen a car in person. And I would probably be able to make even better designs if I could get in one. And it wouldn't kill anyone if I went on one little research expedition." He wore a huge grin on his face as he looked up at Fabian. "If you think about it, I'd be letting everyone else down by not doing this, right? I hate to say it, but I guess I've got no other choice but to go outside and see the city for the first time in years." He shook his head solemnly without dropping his smile. "Tonight works for you, right?"

Now that Fabian thought about it, striking a deal like this to get out of trouble was out of character for him, especially when part of that deal involved getting someone to do something that would put them in danger. "Crap, is Nero rubbing off on me?" The thought horrified him, so he resolved then and there to not let himself slip any further.

…But then again, it wasn't like this deal was hurting anyone, so he saw no reason not to follow through with it this time. Fabian bumped fists with Toño, cementing the deal.